mystationsofthecross.com - 1st things 1st: Avoiding Purgatory & Hell

Virgin of Carmel Saving Souls in Purgatory, Circle of Diego Quispe Tito (late 17th century) Brooklyn Museum of Art

next secton: Above: The Virgin of Guadalupe, Jesus Nazareno, saints and souls in purgatory. José de Páez (~1770-1780) Templo de San Blas, Parish of San Blas Obispo y Martir, Aguascalientes, Mexico

Enrollment in the Confraternity

To be eligible for the scapular promise, one must be enrolled in the Brown Scapular Confraternity. This is a simple ceremony which can be performed by any priest (see below). The members of the Confraternity have the added benefit of sharing in all the spiritual benefits of the Carmelite Order. According to a statement made by the Carmelite Fathers at the National Scapular Center, every priest now has the right to invest the faithful in the Brown Scapular and to substitute the rosary in lieu of the Little Office.

The scapular must be 100% wool without plastic casing and should not be pinned or affixed to clothing. It is worn over the head, under one’s clothes, with one square of wool hanging on the chest and the other on the back. Pictures are not necessary.The Sabbatine Privilege of the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

The Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel has promised to save those who wear the scapular from the fires of hell; She will also shorten their stay in purgatory if they should pass from this world still owing some debt of punishment.

This promise is found in a Bull of Pope John XXII. The Blessed Virgin appeared to him and, speaking of those who wear the Brown Scapular, said, “I, the Mother of Grace, shall descend on the Saturday after their death and whomsoever I shall find in purgatory I shall free so that I may lead them to the holy mountain of life everlasting.”

The Blessed Virgin assigned certain conditions which must be fulfilled:

1. Wear the Brown Scapular continuously.

2. Observe chastity according to one’s state in life (married/single).

3. Recite daily the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin

or Observe the fasts of the Church together with abstaining from meat on Wednesdays and Saturdays

or with permission of a priest, say five decades of Our Lady’s Most Holy Rosary

or with permission of a priest, substitute some other good work.

Pope Benedict XV, the celebrated World War I Pontiff, granted 500 days indulgence for devoutly kissing your scapular.

The Morning Offering to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

“O my God, in union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary (here kiss the scapular as a sign of your consecration), I offer Thee the Precious Blood of Jesus from all the altars throughout the world, joining with It the offering of my every thought, word and action of this day. O my Jesus, I desire today to gain every indulgence and merit I can, and I offer them, together with myself, to Mary Immaculate, that she may best apply them to the interests of Thy most Sacred Heart. Precious Blood of Jesus, save us! Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us! Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

Our Lady of the Rosary and the souls of the Purgatory. Oil painting. 18th century. Convent of Catherine of Siena, Quito, Ecuador.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel interceding for the souls in Purgatory, Goya (1746-1828)

The Popes and the Brown Scapular

Pope Leo XIII: “The Carmelite Scapular’s nobility of origin, its extraordinary spread among Christian peoples for many centuries, the spiritualizing effects produced by it and the outstanding miracles worked in virtue of it render the Scapular of Carmel commendable to a wondrous degree.”

Pope Pius XI: “In consideration of the munificent goodness of the heavenly Mother towards her children, it surely ought to be sufficient merely to exhort those who belong to the Scapular Confraternity to persevere in the holy exercises which have been prescribed for the gaining of the indulgences to which they are entitled.”

Pope Pius XII: “All Carmelites, whether they live in the cloisters of the First or Second Orders or are members of the Third Order or of the Confraternities, belong to the same family of our Most Blessed Mother and are attached to it by a special bond of love. May they all see in this keepsake of the Virgin herself a mirror of humility and purity; may they read in the very simplicity of the Garment a concise lesson in modesty and simplicity; above all, may they behold in this same Garment, which they wear day and night, the eloquent expressive symbol of their prayers for divine assistance.”

Pope John XXIII: He spoke “of the Mother of God who is honored in this Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Devotion to her becomes a necessity; towards Our Lady of Mount Carmel we are drawn with a most tender, yet irresistible, attraction.”

Pope Paul VI, speaking of Marian devotions, especially of the Scapular, said “Let the faithful hold in high esteem the practices and devotions to the Blessed Virgin approved by the teaching authority of the Church. It is Our conviction that the Rosary of Mary and the Scapular of Carmel are among these recommended practices. The Scapular is a practice of piety, which by its very simplicity is suited to everyone.”

The rosary and the scapular are inseparable. Pray the rosary daily.